Container



April 14, 1942. E. R. CREBBS CONTAINER Filed Sept. 19, 1939 V INVENTOR, EARL R. C/PEBBS.

ATTORNEYS. j

Patented Apr. 14, 1942 CONTAINER Earl R. Crebbs, San Francisco, Calif., assignor to Stanley Pedder, Contra Costa County, Calif.

Application September 19, 1939, Serial No. 295,588

1 Claim.

My invention relates to packaging and dispensing means, more particularlyto a container for packaging and dispensing stacked tissues or the like which of themselves are incapable of self support.

It has been the practice in the past, in dispensing such items as toilet tissue, paper towels, toilet seat covers and the like to provide a permanent dispensing container of relatively dura ble construction and refill the same as the occasion demands. The container in which such items are originally packed and marketed, thereafter, must be discarded as having already served its intended purpose. While these items are sometimes prepared in rolls and dispensed from containers designed to hold such rolls and permit withdrawal and severence of single items therefrom as desired, other receptacles are designed to dispense such items individually from stacks. In connection with such receptacles, and due to the thinness and inherent inability of such items to support themselves within the container when stood on edge unsupported, some means in the form of a follower is usually provided to continually pack the stack against a supporting wall :3.

as the contents are dispensed and the pile or stack grows thinner.

It is an object of my invention to provide an improved packaging container for stacked tissues or the like which shall also constitute the dispensing container for its contents and support such tissues on edge in proper position for dispensing the same.

It is another object of my invention to provide an improved packaging container for stacked tissues or the like which shall also constitute the dispensing container for its contents and be selfregulating to a degree sufiicient to preclude slumping or collapsing of its contents as the contents of such container is dispensed. v

A further object of my invention is to provide an improved packaging container for stacked tissues or the like which shall serve as the dispensing container for such tissues and include as an integral part thereof, means for hanging the container in a dispensing position.

A further object of my invention is to provide an improved packaging container fabricated from a single blank.

An additional object of my invention is to provide an improved dispenser for stacked tissues or the like which container shall require no follower or other independent means for supporting such stacked material on edge.

It is a further object of my invention to provide an improved dispensing container for stacked material or the like in which the cover is locked while the container is hanging in a dispensing position.

Additional objects of my invention will be brought out in the following description of the same taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing wherein:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a blank from which my improved container may be conveniently formed.

Figure 2 is a view in perspective of my improved container.

Figure 3 is a view in section taken along the line 3-3 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a View corresponding to that of Figure 3 showing .the'cover in open position.

Figure 5 is a View in-section of a packed container illustrating'the manner in which my improved container functions to support the stacked material therein. 7

Referring now more particularly to the drawing for further and detailed explanation of my invention, theblank of Figure 1 which illustrates one manner of fabricating my improved container, is preferably of stiff paper or corresponding material and comprises a front wall section I, a

rear wallsection 3 connected thereto by a bottom wall section 5. Integral with the front wall section and extending laterally therefrom, are rela--' tively narrow side wall sections 1 and 9 each being provided with an integral securing tab I and I3 respectively along its longer edge and a securing tab l5 and I1 respectively along the short er edge adjacent the bottom wall section 5. Along the edge of the front wall section farthest removed from the bottom wallsection is the cover section IS. The front wall section is provided with a window opening 2| through which material may be dispensed, and the rear wall section is provided with an opening 23 near that edge farthest removed from the bottom wall section. The blank is creased along both the solid and dotted lines indicated thereon in Figure 1. The

solid lines indicate bending of the blank in a di- I blank of Figure 1 will bear the same reference characters. Such container will include the front wall I with the window opening 2| formed therein, and the rear wall 3. The front and rear walls will be interconnected by side walls I and 9 and a bottom wall 5. Due to the manner of creasing the blank of Figure 1, both the side walls and bottom wall will be gusseted. The cover l9 will. also be gusseted and provide a complementary fit in the-open'end of thecontainer. In closing the opening to the container with the cover, the

tab: extension -27 isinserted through the opening 23 in the rear wall and provides a hanging tab for supportingthe container in dispensing position frorrrany suitable wall hanger or the like. For this'purpose, the tab extension has a suspension opening 29 therethrough which is preferably reinforced to sustain the weight of the container and its-contents. While suspended in such dis pensing position, the cover is eiiectively locked in position with the tab being urged against the rear wall surface of the container by the pull on the tab extension to seal the container, and such seal is rendered more efficacious by the notching of the tab at either side of the tab extension. Such locking of the cover will tend to discourage removal 'of the contents in bulk from the container, in addition to maintaining the open end capable of further expansion in response to-the application of expanding pressure between the front and rear walls of the container. Following any such additional expansion of the container, the resilient characteristic of the side walls and bottom, attributed to the gusseted construction of the same, will tend to restore the container to its normal condition, which is that substantially as shown in Figure 2.

The product to be dispensed from the container is preferably in the form of items'of sheet material folded and stacked to present a free edge to the dispensing opening in the front wall. The container is dimensioned with respect to such product, so that the width of the stacked material is somewhat greater than the normal distance existing between the inwardly directed edges of the-gusseted side walls-in the empty state of the container but slightly less than the width of the front or rear wall of the container. The container is packed with. such stacked material to substantially thefull expansion limit of the container without causing buckling of the gusseted side walls or bottom, thus assuring restoration of the container to substantially its original condition, as the stack diminishes in thickness in response to withdrawal of items therefrom through the window opening in the front wall. As the container thus contracts, the distance between the inwardly directed edges of the side walls becomes less than the actual width of the contents of the container. This results in a tendency of such side walls to penetrate the stacked material, roughly separating the same into two sections with the result that the inwardly directed side walls act to support the stacked material in the container at a time when such material requires support, namely after a substantial portion of the contents of the container has been dispensed. This is shown in a somewhat exaggerated manner in Figure 5. At the same time the spacing between the front and rear walls of the container has diminished, adding materially to the' ability of the container: totsupport stacked products therein such as above mentioned.

In view of the fact that'such containers may be made of relatively cheap material such" as stiff paper or the like, the cost of fabricating the same need not vary from the cost of packagingsimilar material in ordinary'containers for subsequent transfer to'a' refillable-dispenser of the permanent type. My improved container, thuseliminates the necessity and expense of installing such a permanent fixture, at the same time avoiding the inconvenience of-refilling the same at intervals.

While I have discussed a preferred form of my invention it becomes apparent that minor changes may be made therein without departing from the scope of myinvention; and I consequently do not desire to be limited in my protection to the specific details of construction disclosed by me except as maybe necessitated by the prior art'and the appended claim;

I claim:

A dispensing package including a container comprising a front and rear wall, gusseted side walls and a gusseted bottom interconnecting said front and rear walls, said front wall having an uncovered opening therein through which to showanddispense the contents of said container, a cover gusseted to provide a complementary fit with said side walls at the open end of said container, all of said gussets. being single and extending inwardly, said cover being hinged to the top edge of said front-wall and having a tab adapted to extend throughsaid rear Wall in closed position of said cover to provide means for loading and suspending said container for dispensing purposes, and a stack of folded, sheet material items standing onedge in said container with a free edge of each facing 'the dispensing opening in said front wall, said items each having a width greater than the minimum'empty-container distance between said side wallgussets, all of said gussets being stressed to hold said sheetitems firmly against said-opening;

EARL R. CREBBS. 

